Star Trek: Voyager: Endgame

children. You're experiencing what some people call ‘empty nest syndrome.’ You've got nothing to do in astrometrics, and I know what fulfillment you get out of your work. And on top of all of this, you have also never been certain of where you were going to fit in once you return home.” He grimaced a little. “Neither am I.”
    She regarded him thoughtfully. If he had had a heart, it would have raced. Even though he knew that her affections were given elsewhere, the Doctor realized that his infatuation with Seven was not going to go away.
    “Would you care for an ice cream sundae?” she asked.
    He smiled. “I'd love one.”
    * * *
    “I don't want to go home,” Naomi Wildman stated flatly. Counselor Deanna Troi was surprised at the vehemence she was sensing from the child.
    “I don't blame you,” Troi responded, clearly surprising Naomi. “You were born here.
Voyager
is your home.”
    “You understand,” said Naomi, brightening. “I have Mama, Seven, Icheb . . . I don't need a father.”
    “But you might like to have one,” Troi offered.
    “Everyone expects me to be so happy about meeting my father, but I'm not. I'm . . . I'm scared. Ktarians are scary-looking.”
    “Your mother wasn't scared of him. She thought him a wonderful person. Good enough to marry and be the father of her child.”
    Naomi made a face and looked down at her feet, dangling a few inches off the floor. Deanna waited patiently, but Naomi remained silent.
    “You know,” Deanna finally said, “we have a lot in common, only backward.” Curious, Naomi looked up. “My father was with me until I was seven years old. You aren't going to get to meet your father until you're already seven, but you're luckier than I am. You see, my father died when I was your age. He never got to see me grow up, graduate from the Academy, learn to be a counselor. There was so much in my life that I wished he had been there for, but he wasn't.”
    Naomi had stopped fidgeting. Her eyes were fixed on Troi's.
    “You've got all that time ahead with your daddy. Hasn't he sent you letters about how anxious he is to meet you?”
    Naomi nodded.
    “He probably thinks he's the luckiest man in the universe. Not only is he getting his wife back, whom he loves very much, but he's getting a beautiful, smart daughter, too.”
    A shy, soft smile curved Naomi's lips.
    “You don't have to love him right away. Love takes time. But don't you think you could try to like him?”
    Naomi thought. “I suppose,” she said. “I just wish he could have met Uncle Neelix.”
    “Neelix helped shape the girl you've grown into, Naomi. So in a way, your father
will
get to meet Neelix. And you will never lose your uncle. He will always be part of you.”
    And at that, the girl rewarded Troi with the biggest smile she'd seen yet from her.



CHAPTER 3

    T ROI SMILED TIREDLY AS C APTAIN P ICARD HANDED HER A DISH OF ice cream. “I need this after today,” she said, spooning up a bite.
    “How many people did you speak to?” he asked, then turned to the replicator. “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.”
    “About thirty,” she said.
    He raised an eyebrow. “That's more than you're supposed to see outside of catastrophic situations,” he reprimanded, taking his tea and sitting beside her.
    “In a way, it is a catastrophic situation,” Troi replied. “These people have been without a professional counselor for seven full years, Captain. And they've been through some incredible adventures—some wondrous, some brutally tragic. They've been tremendously isolated and they've adapted by creating their own little world aboard that ship.”
    “Good or bad?”
    She smiled. “Very good. Captain Janeway has almost assumed the rank of a god in some eyes. And after some of the stories I've heard today, that designation seems quite believable.”
    “Hmm,” Picard said.
    “And now, with no warning, no time to prepare, to mentally ready themselves for it, they've achieved their goal. They made it back to the Alpha Quadrant. They're going to be with their families in a few days.” She paused. “Thank you, by the way, for recommending to the admirals that we not travel home at top speed.
Voyager
's crew desperately needs the extra time to readjust.”
    He nodded. “As I suspected. Do you think there will be trouble? Any former Maquis returning with fire in the belly? There was probably a lot of desire for revenge when they heard about the decimation of Tevlik's moonbase.”
    She shook her